Bodybuilding is an intense and competitive sport. Competitors devote quite a lot of time to fitness workouts. Actually, there is no sport comparable to it in terms of the time spend in the gym. This intensity escalates as bodybuilding competitions draw near. A bodybuilding competition is for the strong willed. It is not a place for the shy. They are organized and governed by different organizations. Before settling on the competition you intend to participate, there are some things that you need to consider. These things range from the way the competition is run to the procedure carried out before the actual competition.

Different organizers of bodybuilding competitions run various tests before the actual competition starts. For example, in natural competitions, participants are tested for doping especially the anabolic steroids test. They are not expected to have the slightest amount of steroids in their system. This is as contrasted to the unnatural ones where the use of steroids is not questioned. In the natural competitions, urine samples are taken in order for the tests to be carried out. In the most serious competitions, blood sample are taken as well as polygraph. Polygraph which is also known as voice-stress, tests to see whether the voice of the competitor is real (natural) or whether he is lying.

The tests could be issued at random. It is not a must that everyone will be tested. A name is just picked at random either before pre-season, after pre-season or immediately after the competition. Most organizers of bodybuilding competitions subject the winner to tests to ensure that the win is justified. Only natural bodybuilders are mostly considered. It is easier for a person using steroids to win than others because his muscles are stimulated. For the winner, or the top five competitors, testing will only be done after the show because it is only at this time that the winner is known.

At these bodybuilding competitions, most of what is done is at the discretion of the organizers. The organization can decide what steroid is not acceptable to them and what is not. Just because a certain steroid is legal does not mean that it is allowed in a specific competition. Some diuretics and fat burners could be banned too. This however, is distinct to organization. Punishment is meted out against any competitor found to have used these substances. This again varies from organization to organization. The worst of these punishments is when a competitor is banned from competing for a number of years. Others decide to display such competitors in their list of shame or even on the internet.

A characteristic of all natural bodybuilding competitions is that the competitions have a number of mandatory free drug policy years. For example, an organization may decide that a competitor must have a free drug record for the last two years. Others demand for up to between five and seven years. The period is not uniform but the requirement cuts across the board. One should be weary of this before settling on where to compete otherwise it can have severe consequences if he or she goes to a place where later on he or she is considered without the periods required. This will be considered to be doping.